Halloween!

We've been having a fun fall! I've been making a bunch of fun Halloween sandwiches (just sandwiches cut with a cookie cutter) Butter, cheese and pickles is the current favorite. James' own creation. If he likes it who am I to complain. Here's a ghost with grape bugs and eyeballs:

Acorns (a treat)



Spider (cheese, pretzels, raisins)


We're still plugging along. Kaylee hasn't been weighed recently. I tried to get her in to see the Developmental specialist but they make it impossible - shouldn't be that hard for existing patients to be seen! I mean really?! I have to call 3 months in advance and the appointments fill up that fast and really you can't schedule into the next month? You want me to call every day until you have the new calendar available? Really!? Anyway..... She sees the Ped Endocrinologist in December.
James weighed in at 28 1/2 lbs when he was seen for his cough last week. I just don't understand. Would my kids not weigh anything if I didn't go to all the extra effort to boost calories like I do??!? I guess I'm getting myself into one of my frustrated moods. Kaylee has decided it's grand fun to drop her food on the floor. She eats a few bites and then it's game on. I really want to force her to cut back on the toddler milk, but I know she gets all her calories that way.
On a bright note: She's learned to bite things! Cereal bars, cookies, chips, muffins, lots of things! And she loves that danonino yogurt. She grabs them out of the fridge and says "ogurt pleeeeasseee!" How can I refuse even though i know it's going to mean an extra bath?! She loves feeding herself yogurt.


A tip to increase calories for this post: I add cool whip to chocolate pudding. I am lazy and I buy the store brand (Hunts I think has the most calories per serving) and I add cool whip. You can make a cute ghost with it using sprinkle or chocolate chip eyes.

Fun lunches

Just getting started so cut me some slack. Here's our first "fun lunch". A sailboat sandwich with pirates treasure fruit and dip. (and veggie sticks)

James ate the whole thing and more fruits and veggie sticks.

I'm collecting more "tools"and gadgets for more fun lunches. Hopefully more creative than this one~ stay tuned!

Slowly but surely...

Kaylee is up to 16lbs 6oz and 30 1/4 inches. Not huge but she's growing and that's all that matters. James outgrew 2 pairs of shoes this summer and his jeans are SO short. We have alot of shopping to get to this fall!

The other night we had Banana "coins" or banana pancakes for dinner. It was a huge hit! All I did was dip bananas cut into small circles in the pancake batter and then tossed it on the griddle.
Today for lunch I served his sandwich and yogurt with blueberries in a pirate muffin cup with a pirate flag (toothpick/food pick) and James loved it so much. That means I'm going to go ahead and dig out the cookie cutters and start making lunch time fun. It might mean a few extra minutes preparing the meal, but if I don't have to say "eat your food" 1000 times it'll be worth it. I'm also hoping to get him to try new things. If it looks this cool/fun it MUST be good right?! I sure hope so! I'll post pictures as we start doing this - first I have to get everything together and get some meals planned. (I'm sure my husband will appreciate it if I don't go out and spend a mini fortune on this stuff all at once too!) I'm excited though so I hope it rubs off on James - and in turn Kaylee too.

Lesson 1 - Dip!

Never let them eat things plain. Always dip, cover and smother.
Bread gets buttered (sometimes on both sides if I can get away with it)
Fruit gets dipped in cream cheese, cool whip, yogurt
Veggies are good in ranch, veggie dip, cheese.
Pretzels go good in dip and so do graham crackers (Pudding makes an awesome dip! Go an extra step and top it with whipped cream first.)
Soup gets butter or cream depending on the soup and the kid.
Pasta gets sauce or butter. Sometimes cheese.
Glass of milk? Just add carnation instant breakfast (for older babies)
Jello and coolwhip are great.
Fries are awesome with ranch (and cheese too) But if that's not your style ketchup adds calories too.
Potatoes = butter, sour cream & bacon bits, Cheese if you're feeling like some dairy. If you want mashed potatoes make it with butter and heavy cream or half and half!
Avocados are good but only 1 of my kids likes them
Eggs are wonderful with heavy cream and cheese.

More ideas soon. We're busy here setting up PT and OT appointments - and enjoying some nice weather for the time being!